Bedhead Book Three
Prologue
Gage
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a cop. When I was little, my brother and I would play that game, Cops and Robbers, I was always the cop and my brother Graham, was always the robber. Funny how life works out. Now, Graham is always in some kind of trouble and I’m always bailing him out. Literally and figuratively. Luckily, he lives in Missouri, so I don’t have to witness any of it firsthand, or worse, arrest him.
But there are days, like today that I wish I did something else. Anything else. Hell, re-upping in the Army sounds pretty damn appealing after the shit that went down today. That’s because today I had to arrest a friend. Well, a friend of a friend, I guess you’d say. No, she’s a friend. Believe me, I tried to get out of it. I told the captain I knew the suspect personally, but he didn’t blink an eye. Instead of understanding, he snapped, “You’re the senior uniform on duty, Golden. Get out there and do your goddamn job.”
So, me and one of the rookies took off, heading to Tayler and Quinn’s place, with me hoping like hell Quinn wasn’t around for this. The second the door swung open and Tayler Sorenson smiled at me, my stomach flipped. Then, when she used her nicest voice and said, “Oh, hi, Gage. What’s up?”
Then, Luke Green appeared behind her. “Hey, man.”
For a second I forgot why I was there. I was supposed to be in cop-mode but that left me on the ride over, I guess. “Uh, hey.” Yeah, I said sounding like an idiot. As quickly as I could, I cleared my throat and did what I came to do. “Tayler Sorenson?”
She’s still smiling at me. God, this sucks. “Yes.”
“I need to ask you to come with us.”
Then, she laughs. She thinks this is a joke. Man, I wish it were. “Why?” she asks tilting her head just a little bit. I’d say it was adorable if any of this was fun.
Apparently, the rookie officer, Lance Finch, had enough of my hemming and hawing. “Tayler Sorenson, we’d like you to come with us. If you come with us willingly, we won’t cuff you.”
I wanted to cuff him, the jackass. That was unnecessary. I told him in the fucking squad car that I’d handle this––that I knew Taylor personally, but this guy just had to play bad cop whenever he gets the chance. The guy drives me nuts.
“Cuff her? What the fuck, Gage?” Luke snaps. “What’s going on?”
I get why he’s pissed. Hell, I’m angry about this too but I’ve got a job to do and I’m not about to let Finch take the lead on this. Looking at Tayler, I say, “Tayler, where were you last night between the hours of ten and midnight?”
“Here.”
Okay. That’s good. She was home. This is going to be a piece of cake. Please, for the love of God, don’t tell me you were alone… I look at Luke. “Were you here as well, Mr. Green?”
“No. I was at work.”
Not the answer I wanted so I shake my head because damn it. “You were alone, Ms. Sorenson?”
“Yes. I was alone until Luke got home.” She looks at Finch, then at me. “What’s going on?”
“Tayler Sorenson,” Finch starts up again, “you’re under arrest for the murder of Kara Becker.”
I want to punch this asshole.
“Murder?” Luke and Tayler say at the same time. “Under arrest?”
I want to give her some advice. If I could, I’d say things like “don’t say a word” or “just come with us now and get a good lawyer” but I can’t. Luckily, Luke says everything I’d say if she were mine. Which she isn’t. Neither is her best friend, Quinn. Sadly.
“Tayler,” Luke says to her, “I’ll call my lawyer. Just go with them. But, babe?” He sounds like he knows what he’s doing. “Say. Nothing.”
“But I didn’t do anything.” Her voice is a little whiney, but I get it. Mine would be too, probably. Besides, suspects always say that but I want to believe she’s telling the truth. I really do.
Luke repeats, “I know, but promise me you’ll wait for the attorney. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t worry, Tayler.”
I watch as Tayler reaches to her right to retrieve something. When she steps back in front of the opening, she’s got her purse. She’s still in sleepwear but she’s not wearing shoes. “Tayler, if you’d like to get dressed.” I look down at her feet. “And put on some shoes. We’ll wait.” Strange. It’s the second time in the last eight hours I’ve asked a woman to get dressed.
Rookie Finch makes a grunting noise, but I don’t even look his way. I’m so pissed at him; I won’t bother acknowledging him now. I’ll deal with him later.
Chapter 1: Gage
Several hours earlier.
“Nearest available unit. 10-42. 1320 Coconino Road. Apartment 2-1-3.”
I’m in west Ames so I know I’m likely the closest cruiser, so I press my radio button and respond. “10-42 received. En route.”
Finally, I’ve got something to do. I’ve driven around for the last three hours hoping for something to happen. No, I’m not hoping for something terrible to happen just something––anything. I’ll even take this 10-44, a welfare check. Something we do a lot of in this town. It happens when parents call us to check on their college kids because they won’t answer their phone or reply to text messages. I guess these kids are too busy. Either that or they’re afraid to talk to their folks. I’d guess the latter to be the case more often than not.
This welfare check is going to be something similar because 1320 Coconino Road is an apartment complex designed for student living. I looked at that place when I first moved to Ames, four years ago. It was brand new then and while it had a ton of cool amenities like several pools, a 24-7 fitness center, a dog park, and a social club, I couldn’t picture myself living amongst a bunch of college students partying all the time. And would they want a cop living above them? Probably not. No, at that time, I’d just left the Army and all I wanted was a quiet place to call home. It’s why I bought my small house instead of renting. That, and I was ready to put down some roots somewhere. I moved all over the place for four years as an M.P. or military police officer and I didn’t want to do that any longer. Now that I’ve been in this job for four years, I still feel that way most of the time. However, lately, I’m started to get a bit antsy. Like I’m ready for the next phase of my life. I’m ready for more.
Pulling into the parking lot of the Social Apartment complex, I park. Grabbing my notebook and pen, I jot down the time, 2:37 AM, then I slide it into my breast pocket. A strange time for a welfare check. Whoever called it in may have tried to reach this resident for a while and just gave up. It happens. Outside my squad car, I scan my perimeter. It’s the middle of the night so the lights they’ve got on the parking lot are enough to allow me to see a good distance. Walking past one building, I note the address number. I’m looking for the one with 1320 on the sign and see it head.
Opening the door, I step into a spacious area with couches and tables. This place is still pretty nice considering the people who live here. College students can be hard on a place, another reason for me to buy my own place. I found a fixer-upper that was dirt-cheap. Over the last few years, I’ve almost re-done the whole place. All I have left to do is finish the basement and rebuild the garage. The garage isn’t in terrible shape, but I’d like to use it as a workshop and there’s just not enough room in my current one-car structure.